I love all those bands, and obviously they have the stature and influence and legacy that a band like the Fags could never hope to attain at this point. But as far as the actual songs go, a song like "Truly, Truly" wins hands down over any entry from any of those bands, IMO. And The Fags have a lot of songs like that.

I'm also pretty biased in that I've known all those dudes for more than 20 years, and John in particular might be the most naturally talented musician and songwriter I've ever known. I remember going to see him when he was 19 and thinking "This kid is the real deal".

I love all those bands, and obviously they have the stature and influence and legacy that a band like the Fags could never hope to attain at this point. But as far as the actual songs go, a song like "Truly, Truly" wins hands down over any entry from any of those bands, IMO. And The Fags have a lot of songs like that.

I'm also pretty biased in that I've known all those dudes for more than 20 years, and John in particular might be the most naturally talented musician and songwriter I've ever known. I remember going to see him when he was 19 and thinking "This kid is the real deal".

When I was still doing the Gerunds with Cortner, we used to give each other comp cds of stuff we liked that we could use as inspiration/rip off for our own songs. One of the discs I gave him had "High School" by the MC5 on it, which we agreed was the greatest song ever. But I also included a song he hated so much that he thought he might have to break up the Gerunds. It was "Truly, Truly." I still don't understand what he found so objectionable about it. It sounds like cheesy (but still good) mid-80s Cheap Trick.

I love all those bands, and obviously they have the stature and influence and legacy that a band like the Fags could never hope to attain at this point. But as far as the actual songs go, a song like "Truly, Truly" wins hands down over any entry from any of those bands, IMO. And The Fags have a lot of songs like that.

I'm also pretty biased in that I've known all those dudes for more than 20 years, and John in particular might be the most naturally talented musician and songwriter I've ever known. I remember going to see him when he was 19 and thinking "This kid is the real deal".

When I was still doing the Gerunds with Cortner, we used to give each other comp cds of stuff we liked that we could use as inspiration/rip off for our own songs. One of the discs I gave him had "High School" by the MC5 on it, which we agreed was the greatest song ever. But I also included a song he hated so much that he thought he might have to break up the Gerunds. It was "Truly, Truly." I still don't understand what he found so objectionable about it. It sounds like cheesy (but still good) mid-80s Cheap Trick.

This is basically where I'm coming from - If Cheap Trick was from Detroit, they'd be the best band ever from Detroit. They're not from Detroit, but The Fags are, and they sound like Cheap Trick, so they fill that box for me.

Just listened to the digital files for I'm With Her. Very cool. Plus they included the covers they did as part of the pledge campaign that apparently won't be on the CD. Nugent, Maiden, Madonna, Black Flag and The Romantics. Awesome

earthdog70 wrote:Just listened to the digital files for I'm With Her. Very cool. Plus they included the covers they did as part of the pledge campaign that apparently won't be on the CD. Nugent, Maiden, Madonna, Black Flag and The Romantics. Awesome

I just got the digital files, but I don't see a Black Flag cover in there...

Anyway, this is pretty uneven, both in production quality and writing. It definitely sounds like it was cobbled together from different sessions, with some of it being way more raw, while other tunes are really polished. As far as songwriting goes, there are a couple of first-rate gems, some meh tunes, and the covers, while kinda fun, aren't really that great. I thought the Madonna tune could have been way more rockin' for sure, as I've long thought it would make a great pop-punk song. The mid-tempo approach just seems to drain all the life out of it. But whatever, better than no new Fags record I guess. Maybe they should have just done a 7" or something.